Born Digital Wine Awards 2010

Yesterday at the European Wine Bloggers Conference the organisers (Gabriella and Ryan Opaz and Robert McIntosh announced that they had set up new awards for on-line journalism – The Born Digital Awards. The awards will be open to contributions in all languages.

See explanation from their new site:  

About the 2010 Awards

The Born Digital Wine Awards are an attempt to give value to the new wave of online wine journalism. Each year, the best individual examples of electronic publishing, including videos and audio, from across the world will be reviewed by a panel of top industry professionals from within and outside the wine industry, with prizes awarded in a range of categories.

Online publishing of wine content, whether it be it video, blogging, twitter, or one of many other platforms, is exploding right now. There have been attempts to judge and categorize the quality of this output, but there is arguably a lack of emphasis on the subject matter itself, an over-emphasis on the personalities and design behind this content, and few awards have had a global relevance.

For this reason, the organizers of the European Wine Bloggers Conference (EWBC) are proposing the first ever Born Digital Wine Awards. These awards are an attempt to create a Pulitzer Awards style system (in form only) for the online wine communications world. The idea is to stimulate and promote quality wine content by creating awards with real value, decided by a panel of respected judges representing the diverse world of wine and publishing.

All nominated content must first be published in an electronic format, online and in a non-restricted (free) manner. Content may eventually end up in print publications, but only after the original article is published in an electronic format.

These awards will be judged in English but the content can be submitted in any language. Each author submitting a story in a language other than English will be encouraged to submit a translation at the same time. For those who cannot afford to, or choose not to, the Born Digital Wine Awards will pay for a professional translation of the article to be submitted with the original.

2010 Awards Categories and Prizes
Each category will be judged separately, and nominations will be vetted before judging to ensure they are relevant. The intention is to showcase the very best in wine content online, and rewarding those who invest their time to create this content. This is not just a pat on the shoulder, it is an incentive to keep up the good work!

A prize of 1,000 euros will be awarded to the first place winners,  as well as receiving other benefits. Both 2nd and 3rd place winners will also be awarded prizes, with details to be announced at a later date.

If you are interested in sponsoring one of the categories or the awards process, please contact us for more details.

Full descriptions about each category will be given by November 15th when nominations for the awards are opened to the public. (I understand that it will be self-nominations and that entrants are restricted to three articles/posts etc. Jim)

Best Investigative Wine Writing
For a distinguished example of investigative reporting by an individual or team, presented as a single wine article or series (video, audio, written text)

Best Editorial Wine Writing
Outstanding examples of wine writing, giving prime consideration to literary quality and originality

Best Wine Tourism Feature
Speaking about a particular region as a tourist destination with a focus on wine (written text, video, audio, photo)

Best Wine Themed Video
Video content that either educates, demonstrates or builds awareness for wine (video)

Best Winery Self Produced Content
Outstanding examples of content created by wineries to promote their brand and reach out to key audiences.

These awards represent the first year’s worth of categories and will be expanded in future editions.

Judges for 2010
Jancis Robinson MW, Evan Schnittman, Elin McCoy, Patrick Schmitt and Robert Joseph.